How Joker Knew [SPOILER] Would Be the Hero to Kill Him

Warning: spoilers ahead for Catwoman #32 and Batman/Catwoman #5!

As one of Gotham City’s most prolific villains, and Batman’s nemesis, Joker is a wanted man in Gotham City. Police, other villains, and even some heroes would relish the opportunity to end the Clown Prince of Crime for good. Yet in Batman/Catwoman #2 – from Tom King and Clay Mann – it’s Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, who does the job, with Harley Quinn later revealing Joker always knew the feline felon would be the one to kill him. It’s a strange revelation which hints at a yet-unseen crime Selina spends much of her adult life waiting to avenge, but a recent issue of Catwoman reminds readers that given Selina’s history, it makes sense that Joker knew he’d die at her hand.

In Catwoman #32 from Ram V and Evan Cagle, various characters are questioned about their history with Selina, as Father Valley and Gotham’s corrupt law enforcement attempt to learn more about their quarry. Told through vignettes, these interviews offer flashbacks into Selina’s past, each offering a different perspective on the enigmatic cat burglar who has been a hero to some and a scourge to others.

Many in Gotham would love to see the Joker dead, including Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Jim Gordon, and most of the rogues the Bat-Family faces day-in and day-out. Joker knows this, and the fact that he’s lived for so long after having earned the ire of many of the world’s deadliest people is impressive. Red Hood, seemingly the most likely candidate to put Joker in the ground, has over time had several opportunities to do so, yet he has relented and not gone through with it. Likewise, other vigilantes like Harley Quinn have passed up their chances, seeing more value in their own moral code than ending Joker’s life. But Catwoman #32 makes it clear that, while Catwoman has always had her personal sense of honor, she is also happy to kill or maim criminals who go too far in her eyes.

In Catwoman #32, readers get a few anecdotes that illustrate where Catwoman’s boundaries lie, and how flexible her moral code can be when people on her side are harmed, or when Gotham’s sadistic villains go too far. When Black Mask tortured her sister and murdered the woman’s husband to get to Selina, Catwoman retaliated by allowing herself to get captured and then turning the tables on Black Mask, kicking him out of a window. Black Mask was able to grab a ledge and cling on for dear life, but while Catwoman could have saved him, she instead watched Black Mask slowly lose his grip on the ledge before plummeting to the sidewalk below.

It’s moments like these that likely solidified in Joker’s mind that Catwoman would eventually be the one to put him down, and it was only a matter of time before he crossed her deadly moral code and found himself on the wrong side of Selina Kyle’s wrath. In this case, it appears that Joker’s murder of the Phantasm after already having kidnapped and killed the vigilante’s son is what pushes Catwoman to ultimately tear out the villain’s throat once Batman’s death frees her to act, but the series likely has more twists in store over its twelve-issue run.

The Clown Prince of Cime has a long list of enemies, including Gotham’s darkest villains, but he’s well aware of Selina’s capacity for murder. Once he did the truly unforgivable, Joker understood that only Catwoman possessed the righteous fury and cool, calculated wrath to eventually end his life – a fact that didn’t help him escape Selina when the moment finally came.